Gifted | Sleepy Bois Inc

Chapter Twenty-Five

Eight days.

That was how much time I had left before we would initiate the plan. Thinking about it gave me a headache, so I spent most of my time focused on school and on training and on being happily oblivious to what was about to happen.

Eight days. Only eight days until either Tryxel wins, or Smiley defeats us and our reputation falls into a ball pit and disappears forever.

Eight days to find out whether I can really defeat him.

I needed a hundred years. I got about a month or so. It had been a close battle last time, but I had still lost all the same. There was no way Smiley had been sitting around this entire time. Now it just came down to who had improved more.

After eight days, either I came out victorious, or I came out dead.

***

"You can't do this."

I sighed. Since Philza had announced the news, Skeppy had made it his own personal mission to get me to back out. It was getting harder to stop conversations from turning onto the topic of the plan, making each word feel like I was treading through a minefield.

"I have to. You know that."

Skeppy shook his head angrily. "Techno, you can't! Who cares about Tryxel or Smiley? You've already risked your life so many times before. Can't you let someone else do it this time?"

I gave him a sideways look. "Aren't you the one whose friend died for Tryxel?"

"That's why I hate the organization!" He threw his hands up in exasperation. "No one likes them!"

"I like them."

Skeppy scowled. "No you don't. They're sending you out alone with your brother to bait a very dangerous killer into falling into a questionable trap."

We were sitting on the rooftop of my London terrace home, which was pretty out of place with the rest of the country, seeing how we were in the United States. But it meant that the roof had lots of flat space, which was perfect for people like me, who hated being high above the ground but still did it anyway.

"I'm not by myself," I argued. "I have Tubbo. He's a good fighter and can use his Gifted ability well. Isn't that enough?"

"No," Skeppy snapped. Then he sighed. "No offense to Tubbo, of course. But you're just two people. The entirety of Tryxel should be helping. They just keep backing out of the responsibility, hiding behind their bounty hunters. Why is it just you two?"

He sounded so distressed that I was beginning to feel bad. Maybe I should've tried harder to avoid the topic. Then again, Skeppy was getting more and more slippery about bringing it up.

"We'll be fine," I said. "It's not just us two. Remember? We're the bait, but Phil and all his people will be there as well. We'll just have to hold him off for a while."

The boy folded his arms and glared out at the sky. I thought back to another time I had been in a similar position with Tubbo. We had been on top of the Tryxel building. It was the first time he had directly told me that I was being a coward for not wanting to fight Smiley and being an actual, useful human. And now, Skeppy was telling me to back out.

He was right, though. Tryxel were cowards. When had I ever seen Biru or Rojo or any of the other higher status bounty hunters out actually doing something? Even Phil, an incredible fighter, seemed more withdrawn when he was with the other two.

"Okay, fine," Skeppy relented. "If you don't want to think about yourself, then think about your brother."

Wilbur. I closed my eyes and exhaled. "I know. That's why I need to do this. It's my best chance to make sure that Smiley can't touch him ever again."